


Thank You For Staying

by NatSoRaven



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, One Shot, Slice of Life, Snapshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:33:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24549958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatSoRaven/pseuds/NatSoRaven
Summary: Remus returned from his failed infiltration of the werewolf network bruised, in pain, and mentally defeated. He wanted to believe Albus when he said coming to an Order meeting might improve his mood, but all hope seemed lost... until someone stumbled through the door.CW: injuries from attack
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	Thank You For Staying

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling*. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
> 
> *She is a TERF & in my heart HP belongs to the fans!

Remus woke with a start.

He shot upright in his bed, the sheets clinging to his skin like wallpaper, glued on by sweat. His breathing slowed as he regained his bearings. He was alone. There were no werewolves. There was no battle. He was in his bed at Grimmauld Place, alone.

He was alone.

Wait - Had he dreamt her? His head flooded with memories of last night - what he thought was last night, at least. 

\---

He remembered the Order meeting. That, at least, he was sure had happened. 

The last few months of attempting to befriend the werewolves had been brutal, and ultimately fruitless. Not only had he failed to convince them to align with the Order, but he also undid the work he had spent the better part of his life doing: trying to squash the internalized hatred he felt towards his race. He felt it creep in again, now, when reflecting upon the way they had treated him. Had they perhaps turned truly beastly, become the subhuman creatures the bigots in power had insisted they were all along? Or had they simply given themselves over to darkness? Was this darkness human or monster, and does it exist in him, too? Their cruel, careless acts of violence haunted him, but Remus couldn’t help but envy the way they could control the monsters within themselves - even if that control meant that he became the target of their brutality. 

He was physically and emotionally defeated. He stared at the way the bruises on his arms were turning yellow and green, yet he wanted to believe Albus when he said that coming to the Order meeting tonight would make Remus feel better.

But the meeting hadn’t felt better. More acute than the physical pain he felt was the pain that none of these people truly understood him. Never before had he felt so far removed from his comrades in arms, his friends. He felt dirty, and his skin crawled with the knowledge that they could see the cuts and bruises all over his face and neck and arms. He couldn't bear their pity, so he averted his eyes and attempted to commit the texture of the wooden tabletop to memory. He didn’t hear a word anyone said, he didn't know who was in attendance, and more than anything, he wanted to crawl into bed and cry.

A crash made him look up.

“Sorry!” came a voice from the hallway. “Blasted thing,” she muttered as she stumbled through the doorway, the arm of a coat still tangled around her thigh, dragging the toppled coat rack with it. She was sopping wet from the slush outside - nothing quite like London in December. Yet, despite being wet, and freezing, and a bit of a mess, somehow against all odds, she looked radiant.

She wore her hair in silver, shoulder-length waves, and her peacoat was bright red and buttoned up wrong, making the ends uneven where they fell at her thighs. Her eyes were dazzling and golden, and by some miracle they landed on him and softened. It wasn't pity like everyone's gazes before hers. It was something warmer. Remus looked away.

He heard her shuffle over to a seat diagonally across from him, bumping everyone as she passed, and he looked purposefully down at the table. Tonks made her apologies about being late - Auror business - and he could tell she was trying to sit as still as possible by the way she immediately proceeded to knock over her water glass. He smiled to himself. 

The meeting slogged on, and despite Remus’s best efforts, he couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting to her face. The aching, the exhaustion, the despair he had been feeling seemed to dissipate the moment she stumbled through the door. But she seemed to be drawn to him, too. Occasionally, their sneaking eyes met, and like schoolkids they quickly pretended to be looking at something or someone else.

He hadn’t been paying any attention, so he wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but suddenly the people around him started to stand up and make their goodbyes. Remus couldn’t help the wave of sadness that flooded over him. He pressed both hands into the hard wooden tabletop and used all of his strength to stand up, the pain returning to every inch of his body. He managed to get himself upright, but as he took a step forward, his legs gave out and he began to fall.

Suddenly, a strong pair of hands grabbed his upper arms and held him upright. He lifted his gaze to his savior to find golden eyes, full of concern, staring at him. “Sorry,” he muttered. He tried to pull back and support himself, but his body was so tired that he couldn’t even fake it. 

“Here,” she said softly, and wrapped an arm around his waist and placed his arm across her shoulders. He smiled softly, resigned, and closed his eyes to brace himself. The world suddenly collapsed in on him as though his whole body was being shoved through a straw. The air returned to his lungs and he was in his bedroom. He sighed.

Tonks helped him over to sit on the edge of his four poster bed, and without asking, knelt down and began to unlace his shoes for him. “You don’t have to -” 

“Shut up, Remus,” she said without looking up, and then softly added, “just let me help you.”

Remus allowed her to take off his shoes and set them by the door. With much effort, Remus laid back on his bed and managed to pull his head up to his pillow. Tonks looked over from the doorway, sighed in frustration, and pulled out her wand. Silently, she lifted Remus into the air, pulled back his comforter and sheet, laid him gently down, and tucked him in. 

He looked at her with awe and admiration, and then confusion as she approached the bed. “What are you doing?” he asked. She sat down on the other side of the bed and reached into her bag. She rifled around, tossing out papers and tissues and a shoe, until finally she found what she had been searching for: a silver flask. 

“You look like you could use this.” She handed him the flask unceremoniously and he drank from it quickly, the firewhiskey warming him down to his toes. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and returned the flask. She drank from it herself and put it back in her bag. Suddenly, she stood up, took off her coat, and set it on the chair along with her bag. She kicked off her shoes and then climbed into bed again, tucking herself under the comforter but above the sheet. 

“What are you doing?”

“That’s not a great line, you know. You really need to work on your material.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Tonks, seriously, what -”

“I won’t pretend to know what you’ve been through, Remus, but I’ve seen some horrors, too. I figured you might not want to be alone tonight,” she spoke at the ceiling. 

“Oh,” Remus said, speechless. After a moment of staring at the ceiling himself, he finally said: “Okay.” He felt her body relax into the mattress and his eyes became heavy. Sleep finally took over.

\---

His room was still and quiet. Maybe it never happened, but then how did he manage to get into his room last night? The comforter was bunched up at the foot of his bed, and the space beside him appeared wrinkled and slept in. Then finally he saw proof - her red coat was still on the chair. He got out of bed as quickly as his aching body would allow and switched into a clean t-shirt. He grabbed his wand and spelled his sheets and teeth fresh, and then he sat back on the bed gingerly, sitting with his back against the headboard, with a book in his hand.

Just then, Tonks stumbled through the door, hip-length straight brown hair bouncing along, bright blue eyes shining, carrying a tray of breakfast foods. Nothing fancy, just some croissants, eggs, and orange juice, but Remus’s heart swelled. He felt guilty for feeling so much affection towards her, for letting her act kindly towards him, but he suppressed the guilt and allowed himself this one moment of pleasure.

“Wotcher, Remus!” She plopped down onto the bed facing him, almost spilling the orange juice on them both, but Remus reached out and caught the tray in time. “Sorry you woke up alone. I meant to be up here sooner but I got into a fight with the stovetop. The stovetop won.” Tonks held up her hand to show a mild burn running from her pinky to her wrist. Without thinking, Remus reached over and murmured a healing spell, instantly soothing and repairing the burnt skin. Tonks held her hand up to her face in awe. She looked up at him and beamed. “You’ve gotta teach me that one,” she said. He smiled broadly and bit into his croissant. 

The morning passed by and Tonks barely stopped talking long enough to take a breath. Remus didn’t mind - actually, he loved it. He could listen to her talk about anything, for however long she wanted, possibly for the rest of his life, he mused to himself. They finished their breakfasts and spelled the tray back down to the kitchen. 

Tonks slowly and reluctantly began to gather up her belongings. “Thanks for letting me stay.” She reached over and kissed him on the cheek before rushing out of the room, but not quickly enough that Remus missed the blush creeping across her face or the tips of her hair turning pink.

“Thank you for staying.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I miss these characters and I needed to do something to break up the stress.


End file.
